Pizza Hut could soon fill the Papa John’s NFL void

With the Scouting Combine starting, it makes plenty of sense (actually none) that one of the major NFL-related talking points relates to the league’s pizza deal.

On Tuesday, Papa John’s announced that it’s no longer the official pizza of the NFL. The buzz in Indianapolis is that Pizza Hut could be quickly named as the replacement, as soon as Wednesday.

This would mean that the NFL has known that the change is coming, and that the NFL had moved quickly to get a new deal in place.

When it comes to national pizza chains, there aren’t many. Pizza Hut, Papa John’s, and Dominos represent the entire universe of Big Pizza, unless a home-baked alternative like DiGiorno’s were to decide to get in the game. (Or Michael Scott’s favorite New York pizza joint.)

The relationship between the NFL and Papa John’s disintegrated amid an effort by former Papa John’s CEO John Schnatter to publicly blame corporate struggles on the NFL’s reduced ratings and anthem controversy. Many believe Schnatter was acting at the behest of Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.

Jones has an ownership stake in more than 100 Papa John’s locations. If Jones is interested in flipping to Pizza Hut, the corporate headquarters is in Plano, Texas, not far from Dallas.

Pizza hut was good when I was a kid and got a free one for reading books and you got some free mints. It was good when my kids got free ones for reading their books. But that was because it was free and kids don’t have any taste. It’s not a place to go if you enjoy pizza.